Speaker 2026 (A–Z)
Adi Roesch
LEAG Chief Executive Officer
As an experienced manager with extensive expertise in the energy and construction sectors, Adi Roesch is tasked with positioning the LEAG for the transformation of the energy landscape in Germany and the federal government’s new power plant strategy. He was most recently CEO of Köster Holding SE, one of Germany’s leading construction companies and prior to that he held several management positions at General Electric and the Alstom Group, where he was head of power plant services for Central Europe, spokesman for the management board of General Electric GmbH and a member of the executive board of GE Power AG.
Anna Sauter-Getschmann
CEO The Academy for Climate Jobs
The co-founder of the Academy for Climate Jobs—which connects people with the jobs that make our industry climate-ready—has eight years of experience in management consulting, where she supported startups and scale-ups in the areas of organizational development, HR and recruiting, leadership, and operational project management. She has also volunteered as a mentor for MentorMe and as a coach with Netzwerk Chancen. She is currently a member of the MoreDiversity.de initiative.
Anne Francken
Management of BASF InfraService & Solutions Lausitz GmbH
Anne Francken has served as Commercial Managing Director and Director of Human Resources at BASF’s Schwarzheide site and at the current operating company, BASF InfraService & Solutions Lausitz GmbH, since 2020. After completing her studies in law and business administration, she gained international experience in London and began her career as a labor law specialist at a major law firm. She subsequently took on the role of head of labor law at an industry association. Both roles provided her with valuable insights into numerous different companies. In 2009, she joined BASF, where she held several leadership positions before becoming Global HR Head and eventually Commercial Managing Director. She is a certified coach, lives with her family in Dresden, and is actively involved both as a spokesperson in Workshop I of the structural change process and on various supervisory boards.
Batıkan Bora Ormancı
Financial Programmer, Entrepreneur & Hacker
Batıkan Bora Ormancı is the mentor of the green hackathon “Climathon.” He has already achieved top rankings in over ten international hackathons, including six first places. In addition, he has also served as a mentor in other contexts, such as the NASA Space Apps Challenge in Zurich and as a tutor at institutions such as the Technical University of Munich.
Carl Hans Ulrich Helzer
Managing Partner, Center for Sustainable Transformation
… advises companies, organizations, and their C-level executives on transformation processes. In 2022, he founded the Center for Sustainable Transformation (zNT) at Quadriga University Berlin as a managing partner. A PR and communications expert specializing in reputation, change, and crisis management projects, he is a trained journalist and economist and has worked for several years at publications such as *Die Zeit* and ARD television stations. He built one of Germany’s largest mid-sized communications agencies, with up to 150 employees, and sold it to the global market leader after 25 years. During this time, he worked extensively for federal and state ministries and advised clients such as Tata Steel, BASF, the German Chemical Industry Association, dena, and 50Hertz. Today, he is also active as a business angel for various startups.
Dr. Carola Neugebauer
Director of the BBSR Regional Development Competence Center
Dr. Carola Neugebauer assumed the directorship of the Center of Excellence for Regional Development (KRE) in Cottbus on October 2, 2023. A landscape architect with a Ph.D. and specializations in urban design and urban planning, she has been dedicated for many years to the scientific support of transformation processes in cities and regions, as well as to the sustainable development of the built environment. Most recently, Carola Neugebauer was a professor at RWTH Aachen University.
Carsten Jacob
Managing Director of the Spree-Neiße-Bober Euroregion
Carsten Jacob is the Managing Director of the German office of the Spree-Neiße-Bober Euroregion and is thus responsible in particular for coordinating the 34 German members—primarily municipalities, but also economic and social partners, associations, educational institutions, and private individuals—as well as liaising with the Polish office and the 57 Polish members. As such, he plays a central role in cross-border cooperation, the promotion of international awareness and the European ideal, partnership work, public relations, and project management (e.g., for the INTERREG program’s small projects fund).
Dr. Christian Ehler
MdEP for Brandenburg
Dr. Christian Ehler can look back on a long entrepreneurial and political career, but in connection with Decarbon Days, his work as a Member of the European Parliament for Brandenburg since 2004 is particularly noteworthy. Since 2014, he has been a full member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, where he not only played a key role in drafting and revising the Net Zero Industry Act, but also provided the impetus for the Net Zero Valleys concept, taking Lusatia into account from the outset. He is therefore also playing a decisive role in its implementation and, together with zwei helden GmbH, is the source of inspiration for the Decarbon Days.
Dr. Christina Eisenberg
Project Manager for MinGenTec at the IHK Cottbus
… coming soon.
Cristina Oyón
Director of SPRI Group (Basque Economic Development Agency)
Cristina Oyon is Deputy Director General of SPRI Group, the Basque Business Development Agency, and Vice President of EURADA, the European Association of Development Agencies. She is responsible for the design and implementation of the industrial policy based on R&D&I in the Basque Country. Her experience in research, development and innovation policies, management of public funds and public-private and international cooperation has the general objective of seeking long-term impact on economic growth and well-being, at a regional and European level. She leads the international initiatives Net Zero Basque Industrial Supercluster that aims to accelerate the transition towards net zero emissions in the Basque Country and Women in Industry with the aim of promoting dynamics to close the gender gap in the industry.
Chuma Francis Kanis
Operations Director HY2GEN
A former competitive athlete from Lusatia, he has been developing the Jangada project for over two years, which involves building a facility for the production of SAF at the Green Areal Lausitz. His experience spans mechanical and plant engineering, specialized machinery manufacturing, and industrial automation. His focus is on regional management in Lusatia and eastern Germany. His responsibilities include technical development, permitting procedures, client representation, and the commissioning of production facilities, particularly for the production of renewable hydrogen and derivatives.
Czeslaw Fiedorowicz
Chairman of the Spree-Neiße-Bober Euroregion
Czeslaw Fiedorowicz graduated from the University of Engineering in Zielona Góra in 1986 and subsequently held various positions in the provincial administration and as a politician. Among other things, he served as mayor of Gubin from 1990 to 1998. In addition, Czeslaw Fiedorowicz initiated the Spree-Neisse-Bober Euroregion in 1993, for which he continues to serve as chairman; in this capacity, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Brandenburg for his commitment to German-Polish cooperation. Finally, he has been involved for many years in EU programs to promote the border region (Interreg).
Dennis Schwindt
CEO HMS Bergbau AG
Dennis Schwindt holds a degree in economics from Humboldt University in Berlin. Through his previous roles at medium-sized German companies and international corporations, he gained extensive experience in engineering as well as in the oil and gas industry. He joined HMS Bergbau AG in 2012, where he developed investment projects in the commodities sector. In 2018, he was appointed COO of the HMS Executive Board. He has led the Executive Board as CEO since July 2020.
Elke Hohmann
Head of Project Development, Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier
Elke Hohmann holds a degree in electrical engineering and an MBA in International Finance. She began her career in the private sector, where she worked as a product manager for international companies both in Germany and abroad. From an early stage, her profile was shaped by a focus on innovation, technological expertise, and an international perspective.
After about ten years in the private sector, she joined the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for the Middle Lower Rhine, where she held leadership roles in the fields of industry, commerce, tourism, and services for over two decades. During this time, she played a key role in driving innovation, digitalization, and collaboration among business, academia, and public sector stakeholders.
Since 2021, Elke Hohmann has served as Head of Project Management at the Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier. In this role, she actively shapes structural change and oversees projects that foster innovation, new value creation, and sustainable growth in the region. Her focus is on building sustainable networks and implementing forward-looking initiatives of strategic importance for the region as a business hub. In this context, she is also responsible for promoting the Rhineland Mining Region as a Net Zero Valley. For her, structural change thus presents a clear opportunity to develop an internationally visible hub for climate-neutral industry—driven by innovation, investment, and new prospects for sustainable jobs.
Prof. Dr. Gesine Grande
President BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg
Prof. Dr. Gesine Grande, born in 1964, studied psychology at the University of Leipzig, earned her Ph.D. in Public Health in Bielefeld in 1997, and completed her habilitation at the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig in 2012.
She served as a professor at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK) and at the University of Bremen. Before being elected president of the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus Senftenberg in 2020, she served one term as rector of the HTWK in Leipzig.
Prof. Grande is involved in a wide range of activities, including serving on the GATE-Germany Steering Committee, the Supervisory Board of the Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics (IHP) and the Leipzig Trade Fair, and on the boards of trustees of various scientific institutions such as the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Fraunhofer IPMS. She is the chair of the Lausitz Science Network (LSN) and
a member of the board of trustees of the Fürst-Pückler-Museum Park and Branitz Castle Foundation and the Max Grünebaum Foundation, which she also chairs.
Hubert Papaj
Krkonoše Regional Development Agency, Inc.
Jakob Flechtner
Director of KEI Cottbus
Jakob Flechtner has headed the Center of Excellence for Climate Protection in Energy-Intensive Industries since July 2024. Prior to that, he spent over ten years as a department head at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, where his responsibilities included environmental law, energy infrastructure, and climate protection policy. At the DIHK, he also established the “Corporate Climate Protection Network,” which comprises approximately 1,000 member companies. In addition, he has served as a volunteer board member of the Association for Sustainability and Environmental Management since 2022. Flechtner began his career in 2008 as the head of a member of parliament’s office at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Picture: KEI, Steffen Rasche
Dr. Jakob Pohlisch
Head at the Energy Innovation Center in Cottbus
Dr. Jakob Pohlisch serves as Head of Innovation, Management, and Communication at the Energy Innovation Center (EIZ) at BTU. Before joining the team in 2023, he was an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and a research associate at the Technical University of Berlin. He previously completed his dissertation on open and distributed innovation and earned his bachelor’s degree there, while completing his master’s degree at Humboldt University of Berlin, during which time he also co-founded a startup that develops products for highly automated driving.
Janet Jurk
Chair of the Board of Pro Lausitz e.V.
Janet Jurk has been working as an HR manager in Lusatia since 2007—for companies including Arvato, Bertelsmann, and Deutsche Bahn. In her role as HR manager and member of the management team at the maintenance facility in Cottbus—which will become the largest and most modern of its kind at DB—she played a key role in shaping the region’s structural transformation. Her commitment not only contributes to the mobility transition and climate protection but also to the creation and preservation of jobs in Lusatia. As an experienced and dedicated manager, she applies her expertise in a targeted manner to promote the region’s economic and social development in a sustainable way.
Jens Warnken
President Cottbus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
A graduate in business administration, he previously worked at Sachsenmilch AG in Leppersdorf and Spremberger Papierfabrik Hamburger Rieger GmbH & Co. KG, two of the largest companies in Lusatia. Since 2012, he has served as managing director of airkom Druckluft GmbH in Wildau, which specializes in the design and construction of compressed air and industrial cooling systems. With a familiarity with the region’s economy that few others can match, he was elected president of the Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce in 2022 and has since represented the overall interests of the business community in the chamber’s district, which includes the counties of LDS, EE, SPN, and OSL, as well as Cottbus.
Dr. Judith Rosenow
DLR Institute of Electrified Aviation Propulsion
Dr.-Ing. habil. Judith Rosenow is an aviation scientist and an expert in sustainable aviation, flight path optimization, and the environmental impacts of air traffic. Since September 2025, she has headed the “Environmental Impacts and Sustainability” group at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) within the DLR Institute of Electrified Aviation Propulsion. There, she works on assessing and reducing the environmental impacts of future electrified aviation propulsion systems, as well as on system analyses for climate-friendly aviation technologies.
Previously, she worked at the Dresden University of Technology in the Department of Aviation Technology and Logistics. There, she conducted research on multi-criteria flight path optimization, the environmental impacts of aviation, and operational measures for reducing emissions. She has participated in numerous national and international research projects, including those focused on optimized flight profiles with a minimal ecological footprint and on the robust optimization of flight trajectories under uncertain weather conditions.
Kerstin Jorna
EU Directorate-General for GROW
Kerstin Jorna has served as Director-General of the EU’s Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs (GROW) since 2020. The Directorate-General’s mission is to maintain and manage the European Single Market and strengthen its governance, with a particular focus on efforts to digitize and decarbonize industry, thereby making the economy greener, more digital, and more resilient. Kerstin Jorna has been a civil servant with the European Union since 1990, where she has served, among other roles, as Chief of Staff to various Commissioners and in various director-level positions.
Photo: © European Commission
Lucie Töpfer
Founder of pyropower GmbH
Lucie Töpfer is not only co-founder and CEO of pyropower GmbH, which develops and produces systems for decarbonized energy generation, but also co-partner and co-CEO at ClinX Energy Systems GmbH, which devises modern technologies for the efficient use of renewable energies. As a driving force behind cleantech, leadership and the economy of the future, she has already received several awards, including the Brandenburg 2024 Start-up Award and winner of the Lausitz Start-up Competition 2024, Miss Germany Top 90 and Miss Germany Top 30 Founder 2025.
Prof. Marek Banaszkiewicz
Advisor Board Space Technology Park Zielona Gora
Lucie Töpfer is not only co-founder and CEO of pyropower GmbH, which develops and produces systems for decarbonized energy generation, but also co-partner and co-CEO at ClinX Energy Systems GmbH, which devises modern technologies for the efficient use of renewable energies. As a driving force behind cleantech, leadership and the economy of the future, she has already received several awards, including the Brandenburg 2024 Start-up Award and winner of the Lausitz Start-up Competition 2024, Miss Germany Top 90 and Miss Germany Top 30 Founder 2025.
Maria Marquardt
Head of Economy City of Cottbus, NZV impltation
Dr. Maria Marquardt is the acting head of the “Economy” division at the Cottbus City Administration. In this role, she oversees the city’s economic projects. She is a co-author of the “Economic Action Plan for the City of Cottbus,” which sets out the city’s strategic economic guidelines. Since 2024, Dr. Marquardt has played a leading role in implementing the Net Zero Valley Lausitz process; she serves as the spokesperson for the NZVL initiative on the Brandenburg side.
Markus Heß
Head of the Industry and Future Mobility Division BMWE
Since February 2019: Head of the Industry and Future Mobility Division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
Since August 2016: Head of the Industry Division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy2011 – 2016: Head of the Internal Market Unit in the European Affairs Division of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)
2009–2011: Head of the BMW AG Representative Office, Brussels
2003–2009: Head of Division in the European Affairs Department of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), Liaison Office for the BMWi’s Relations with the European Parliament1999 – 2002: Parlament- und Cabinet Office, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
1994–1998: Civil servant for the State of Saxony-Anhalt
Dr. Markus Niggemann (tbc)
State Secretary of the State of Brandenburg
Dr. Markus Niggemann studied business administration at the European University Viadrina from 1996 to 2000, where he subsequently worked as a research assistant for two years. He then served as an executive assistant at Verbundnetz Gas AG in Leipzig and, from 2004 to 2015, as a strategy consultant at Accenture, where he most recently served as director of trading, investment, and optimization strategies for the D-A-CH region. From 2015 to early 2026, he served as treasurer for the city of Cottbus, where he most recently headed the Finance Management, Economic Development & Social Affairs division—and was thus also responsible for the Net Zero Valley Lausitz initiative. Since March 2026, he has served as State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy, Energy, Climate Protection, and European Affairs of the State of Brandenburg.
Matthias Ecke
Member of the European Parliament for Saxony
Matthias Ecke is an SPD politician and has served as a Member of the European Parliament since 2022. After holding various positions in Berlin and Dresden, most recently at the Saxon Ministry of Economic Affairs, he was elected to the European Parliament. There, he focuses on industrial policy, digitalization, and investment. He is a member of the Committee on Industry and the Internal Market and the Committee on Budgets, as well as vice-chair of the Subcommittee on Taxation, and lives with his family in Dresden.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Michael Hübner
Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer at BTU
Michael Hübner has been working for over two decades in the fields of reconfigurable hardware, novel multicore architectures, and application-specific processors, having earned his Ph.D. from the University of Karlsruhe and completed his habilitation at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. During this time, he has co-initiated numerous DFG, EU, and BMBF projects and published over 250 international scientific papers. In 2018, he became head of the Department of Computer Engineering at BTU, where he also became Vice President for Research and Transfer in 2020.
Michiel Scheffer
President of the European Innovation Council (EIC)
Michiel Scheffer is the President of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board. He holds a PhD in geography (1992). Born in the Netherlands, he has three decades of experience in business, academia and public policy. From 2015 to 2019 he was regional minister for economy, education and Europe in the Province of Gelderland (NL) and member of the European Committee of the regions. He is equipped with a wide network in the world of research and innovation (Utrecht University, Wageningen University, Hochschule Rhein-Waal) and has a remarkable professional experience of more than 20 years in the field of innovation, including on breakthrough technologies, disruptive innovations and start-up impact investment. He was involved in setting up close to ten companies.
Nikolaus Jansen
Coordinator Net-Zero Acceleration Valley Niedersachsen
Since May 1, 2023, Nikolas Jansen has served as the State Commissioner for Regional Development at the Weser-Ems Office for Regional Development.
His role is to provide impetus for sustainable development across all parts of Lower Saxony and to help address regional imbalances. Working together with local stakeholders, he will, in particular, initiate, coordinate, consolidate, and implement cross-departmental regional development strategies and funding projects.
He also serves as the lead coordinator of Lower Saxony’s Net-Zero Acceleration Valley, “NetZero Nordwest Deutschland.”
Dr. Nora Baum
CFO, Founder & Management Consultant
After earning degrees in sociology, political science, and business administration, Nora Baum completed her doctorate on the digitalization of the skilled trades. She then worked for several years as a management consultant at McKinsey in the banking and telecommunications sectors before founding her own digital startup, Pattarina, with which she appeared on *Die Höhle der Löwen* and was honored as Brandenburg’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020. Today, she also serves as CFO of the startup Sonocrete, which uses high-power ultrasound to develop more climate-friendly concrete and was named Brandenburg’s Company of the Year in 2023.
Panagiotis Stathopoulos
DLR Institute for CO2-Efficient Industrial Processes
Panagiotis Stathopoulos is a university professor at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and head of the High-Temperature Heat Pumps Department at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) within the Institute of Low-Carbon Industrial Processes. His work focuses on converting waste heat into usable energy for industry. He leads a team of approximately 40 engineers and scientists at the DLR, where heat pump systems are developed and tested that can deliver heat at temperatures between 150 and 300 °C. Prior to joining the DLR, he spent more than a decade at TU Berlin and ETH Zurich, where he led research groups, taught master’s courses, and supervised numerous doctoral and master’s students.
Silke Schwabe
Co-founder of MinGenTec, Director Economic Development IHK CB
Silke Schwabe has been working in economic and foreign trade promotion at the Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce for almost two decades. During this time, she has continuously expanded the foreign trade division and has held a management position for 13 years. Together with her team, she supports the chamber’s member companies in networking internationally, opening new markets and strengthening their competitiveness in the long term.
A key project that is closely linked to her commitment is the MinGenTec – Mining & Generation Technology network initiative, which Silke Schwabe launched together with Wirtschaftsförderung Brandenburg (GmbH). Since 2017, this network has been promoting the transformation of Lusatia in the course of structural change and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and research institutions in the fields of mining, energy and power plant technology. The aim is to open new business areas and markets, both nationally and internationally, through targeted networking, innovation promotion and internationalization.
Steffen Volk
Director of Clean Energy Valley Schleswig-Holstein
Steffen Volk, born in 1984, completed his master’s degree in “Urban and Regional Development” at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel in 2015. This was followed by positions as a project manager at the North Frisia Economic Development Agency (2015–2018) and as a project director at the Kiel Economic Development Agency (2018–2023) in the field of commercial and industrial land development. From 2023 to 2024, he joined the interdepartmental state project “Sustainable Land Management SH” at the Ministry of the Interior, Local Government, Housing, and Sports of the State of Schleswig-Holstein.
Mr. Volk has been the director of Clean Energy Valley Schleswig-Holstein since July 2024 and the coordinator of the Schleswig-Holstein Net Zero Valley Initiative since 2025.
Susann Peplowsky
project manager at EIZ Cottbus
Susann Peplowsky graduated from Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder) with a Master of Arts in Cultural Management and Cultural Tourism. She has many years of experience in event management and program coordination, as well as in developing workshop formats on the topics of startups and entrepreneurship. Since April 2025, she has been a project manager at the Energy Innovation Center (EIZ) as part of the “Innovation, Management, and Communications” team.
Tobias Schick
Mayor of the City of Cottbus/Chóśebuz
Tobias Schick graduated from the Lausitz Sports School in Cottbus. He holds a degree in Business Administration (VWA) and has gained extensive experience in sports and club management. From 2007 to 2022, he served as executive director of the Cottbus City Sports Association. Since December 1, 2022, Tobias Schick has been the mayor of the independent city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz. Sports embody both ambition and fairness—and these qualities shape the work of the chief administrator and mayor as he navigates the development of Cottbus/Chóśebuz between the beacons of structural change, including the Net Zero Valley and the decarbonization of the local economy, and the day-to-day challenges facing daycare centers, neighborhoods, and municipal finances.